Let’s just say… something felt off during JD Vance and Usha Vance’s recent trip to Italy and India. What should’ve been a picture-perfect family moment, complete with the Vice President, the Second Lady, and their three adorable kids, ended up giving off some seriously tense vibes.
In a video that’s now making the rounds on X, the Vance family is seen visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. JD and Usha? They barely had an interaction. The couple looked more like two co-workers juggling childcare than a loving pair enjoying a diplomatic trip.
Usha walked behind her husband, often carrying one of the kids. And JD? His focus was elsewhere. And by “elsewhere,” we mean anywhere but her.
Now, anyone with kids knows that traveling with three of them is a sport of its own. But even still, body language doesn’t lie. And this body language screamed distance.
Some are wondering if the assumed distance between the two has less to do with jet lag and toddlers, and more to do with everything that’s gone down over the last week. Just days before their India visit, JD Vance met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Well, that was a meeting that, let’s be honest, was already under the microscope given their very public ideological clashes.
But when the Pope passed away shortly after, the internet didn’t sit quiet. Cue the memes. Cue the trolls. Cue the conspiracy theories. One even joked, “Did JD kill the Pope?” (Spoiler: no, but the timing really didn’t help.)
BREAKING:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes JD Vance and his family at his residence.
India is the future and the U.S. knows it. The relationship between the two countries will shape much of the 21st century.
🇮🇳🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/w1NjvZIWJO
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 21, 2025
As if that wasn’t enough, JD’s actual meeting with the Pope was cut short. Instead, it was Cardinal Pietro Parolin who sat down with him, and according to the AP, the conversation definitely had some friction over the Trump administration’s immigration stance. Let’s not forget, Pope Francis had already slammed Trump’s deportation plans earlier this year. He even threw shade in an Italian TV interview where he called the administration’s migrant policies “dishonorable.” Ouch.
So yeah, maybe the Pope wasn’t exactly thrilled to see JD show up on Easter Sunday.
All of this can weigh on a person. And if your spouse is also your PR buffer, co-parent, and silent witness to every online comment section meltdown… that tension’s bound to spill out in public.
Usha Vance is usually composed and reserved, some even say mysterious! But, this trip seemed to show a bit more behind the curtain. The two didn’t look like a couple soaking in a once-in-a-lifetime moment. They looked like a pair who are through a PR storm, each in survival mode. Their marriage, which the couple has always said to be built on mutual trust, seems to be weathering a pretty rocky patch right now.
As for whether this awkward energy is just a result of a rough week, or a sign of some serious trouble in the paradise, time (and maybe another viral clip) will tell.
